Unexpected Reunions
by Zolarix Aster
Summary: Post-Sozin's Comet. Katara and Sokka reunite with their father, while Zuko makes plans to go find his mother. Or is the point moot? Mild humor, friendship fluff. Warning: Ends on a cliffhanger.


**Unexpected Reunions**

_Disclaimer: I may have to consult my lawyer to make sure, but I'm fairly certain that I do not own "Avatar: the Last Airbender."_

_Dedicated to Despondent Dreamer, who beta-ed this for me back when it was still 2009, and suggested the title "Unexpected Reunions." If you're reading this, thank you!_

* * *

It was a month after Sozin's Comet, and Fire Lord Ozai's downfall, and life was going smoothly. The Fire Nation itself was surprisingly accepting of the end of the war, and if the other nations felt they were owed for wartime damages, they weren't prepared to perpetuate the war over it.

'Team Avatar,' as Sokka had finally dubbed them, had hung around the Fire Nation capital so far, and made a routine of meeting near a fountain in the courtyard to eat breakfast.

Today's breakfast was unusual in that it had been missing its usual firebender, which was why Katara was now standing in the eastern wing of the Fire Palace, knocking on the door to the Fire Lord's room.

"Come in," Zuko's voice, a bit stifled, responded to the knocking. Katara did. As she entered, she saw that Fire Lord Zuko, ruler of the Fire Nation, had abandoned all pretenses of royal dignity and belly-crawled halfway underneath the bed. Well, Katara assumed it was Zuko. All she could see were his feet.

"Hello?" she hazarded. There was movement, a thump, and a muffled "oww." A moment later, Zuko extracted himself, rubbing the top of his head and grasping a pair of swords.

He muttered something about "stupid storing place" and "servants forgetting to dust" as he tossed the swords onto the bed, which was, Katara noted, already littered with supplies and clothing.

"Can I help you?" he asked. Katara shrugged and nodded at the supplies.

"You weren't at breakfast. Planning a trip?"

He nodded and looked away. She waited for him to explain.

"When–" he shook his head and started again. "On the day of the eclipse, my father… I had always thought –he'd always said– that my mother was dead. Then, he… she may be alive. I'm going to look for her."

Katara felt a hot surge of jealousy, but it was more easily suppressed than she would have expected. She had come to terms with her own mother's death, and realized it was due in part to the efforts of the dust-covered boy standing in front of her.

Katara discovered she was smiling. She put a hand on Zuko's shoulder, causing him to look up at her in surprise.

"That's wonderful, Zuko," she said softly, and Zuko smiled too, though his seemed to be in relief. Katara could guess how worried he had been about her reaction.

"I'll only be gone for a month, at the most. Uncle says he can handle the negotiations for that long." He sighed. "If I haven't found her by then, I'll just…" he didn't say the words "give up," but Katara still heard them. She was about to reassure him, but was interrupted by the door opening.

"Hey Zuko, have you seen Katara?" Sokka said as he walked in. "Oh, there you are. C'mon, Dad's here!" he grabbed her arm, but she didn't say anything, all other thoughts driven out of her head. Hakoda had spent the past few weeks tracking down the other Water Tribe warriors who had been sent to prison after the eclipse (a task made more difficult by the fact that half of them had escaped on their own and had been wandering around the Fire Nation incognito). Katara understood that duty to their people came first, but she still missed her father.

"He asked me to come get you," Sokka continued, oblivious both to Katara's distraction and what he had interrupted in the first place. "He said there's something he needs to talk to us about." This got her attention.

"What is it?"

Sokka shrugged. "I dunno, he just said it was important. C'mon!"

Katara cast an apologetic look in Zuko's direction before following her brother out the door.

* * *

Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe looked as solemn as Katara had ever seen him, yet it seemed to her that her father was more relaxed, like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. With the end of the war, she supposed it had.

Hakoda gestured to a bench in the corner of the garden where they had chosen  
to meet.

"Sit," he suggested. "This isn't a conversation to stand through."

Katara glanced at the stone bench before opting to sit on the grass instead.

Her father grinned as he and Sokka followed her lead. "I'm not exactly sure how to say this," he began after a moment. "After your mother died, I felt lost, empty. I dedicated myself to fighting the Fire Nation, to trying to protect what I hadn't lost. I–" he shook his head, "That part's not important. What matters is– I thought I could never fall in love again, that the wound was too deep. That even considering it would be a betrayal of Kya's memory."

Katara gave him a look, part sorrow, part disbelief. Hakoda laughed.

"That's it. That's exactly the look she would have given me if she saw what an idiot I was being. Don't worry, I realized it on my own, and… I met someone.

"Obviously no one could ever replace your mother, and it would be callous foolishness to try, but I have met someone I care about deeply, and I want you to give her a chance."

Katara smiled softly, "Of course we will, Dad."

Sokka nodded and, after a moment, grinned and added, "So, when do we get to meet Wicked Stepmother?"

Katara elbowed him and hissed "Sokka," but Hakoda laughed.

"Now, actually. We met over a year ago, but we ran into each other by chance after we left the Western air Temple." He stood up. "She's in another part of the garden."

He led them to where a woman in Earth Kingdom garb sat on the grass (Katara wondered what the point of the stone benches was. No one used them) next to a pond, feeding turtle-ducks. When the woman looked up at their approach, Katara frowned; the woman looked familiar somehow, but before she could continue the thought, Hakoda spoke.

"These are my children, Katara and Sokka."

The woman stood up, smiling.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," she said. "I'm Ursa."

* * *

After Katara left, Zuko continued his packing. He was almost finished, he just had one more thing to… ah, there it was. He saw the map of the Earth Kingdom, marked with the places he thought would be easiest for a former Fire Nation citizen to hide.

As he walked over to the desk to get it, Momo flitted in through the open window and landed on the desk. Zuko paused and watched the lemur, unsure of what to do. He'd had relatively little interaction with the furry creature since joining the group, and for all he knew, it might still have some unresolved grudge against him, much like Katara had.

This may very well have been the case; Momo looked at the map curiously before picking it up and flying back out the window.

Zuko rushed over and tried to grab the lemur before it got away, but all he caught was a glimpse of the direction it was flying.

He sighed and walked out the door. He'd been meaning to visit the gardens before he left anyway.

* * *

_A/N: "And just as Zuko reached the garden and was five feet away from seeing his mother again, a meteorite hit the Fire Nation Capital, killing everyone instantly."_

_Heh, not really. But I don't know if there will be a second chapter. Why? Because I have no clue how to write the actual ending (hence why this didn't get posted until half a year after it was beta-ed). Big emotional events aren't my strong suite._

_Thus, I am left with two options: End the story here, and let the readers imagine the meeting? Or…Write it anyway, with the implicit understanding that it might not be very good?_

_Tell me what you think!_


End file.
